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3 Preface This Independent Inquiry was commissioned by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in October Its remit, covering the periods of and , is appended. The Inquiry applied the definition of child sexual exploitation which is used in Government guidance and is set out in Appendix 4, paragraph 48 of this report. The methodology included reading a wide range of minutes, reports and case files. We also interviewed over a hundred people, either individually or in groups. I agreed with the Chief Executive that the cut-off point for file reading would be the end of September 2013, and that any evidence available to me up till June 2014 would be included in the report. A confidential and Freepost address was set up. A list of those interviewed is also appended. At the beginning of the Inquiry, I agreed with the Chief Executive that I would refer to him without delay any instances of individual children where I considered that their circumstances needed urgent attention, or where there was immediate risk. I also agreed to advise him of anything I encountered of a potentially criminal nature, which I would also refer to the Police. I was assisted in the Inquiry by Kathy Somers, independent consultant and Associate of the Care Inspectorate in Scotland. Specialist expertise was provided by Sheila Taylor and her team at the National Working Group Network on Child Sexual Exploitation, who also carried out cross reading of a small number of files. Alexis Jay OBE 21 August 2014

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5 Table of Contents Executive Summary Background Chronology of key events Inspections and External reviews The scale of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham The children who were victims of sexual exploitation Children and Young People s Services Safeguarding The response of other services and agencies The Risky Business Project Three Early Reports Issues of ethnicity Workforce Strategy and Financial Resources The Role of Elected Members and Senior Officers of the Council Recommendations Appendix 1: Terms of Reference for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation Appendix 2: Methodology Appendix 3: List of interviewees Appendix 4: Legal and Policy Context Appendix 5: Recommendations from earlier reports collated by the Safeguarding Board

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7 Executive Summary No one knows the true scale of child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham over the years. Our conservative estimate is that approximately 1400 children were sexually exploited over the full Inquiry period, from 1997 to In just over a third of cases, children affected by sexual exploitation were previously known to services because of child protection and neglect. It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered. They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten, and intimidated. There were examples of children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone. Girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators. This abuse is not confined to the past but continues to this day. In May 2014, the caseload of the specialist child sexual exploitation team was 51. More CSE cases were held by other children's social care teams. There were 16 looked after children who were identified by children s social care as being at serious risk of sexual exploitation or having been sexually exploited. In 2013, the Police received 157 reports concerning child sexual exploitation in the Borough. Over the first twelve years covered by this Inquiry, the collective failures of political and officer leadership were blatant. From the beginning, there was growing evidence that child sexual exploitation was a serious problem in Rotherham. This came from those working in residential care and from youth workers who knew the young people well. Within social care, the scale and seriousness of the problem was underplayed by senior managers. At an operational level, the Police gave no priority to CSE, regarding many child victims with contempt and failing to act on their abuse as a crime. Further stark evidence came in 2002, 2003 and 2006 with three reports known to the Police and the Council, which could not have been clearer in their description of the situation in Rotherham. The first of these reports was effectively suppressed because some senior officers disbelieved the data it contained. This had led to suggestions of coverup. The other two reports set out the links between child sexual exploitation and drugs, guns and criminality in the Borough. These reports were ignored and no action was taken to deal with the issues that were identified in them. In the early 2000s, a small group of professionals from key agencies met and monitored large numbers of children known to be involved in CSE or at risk but their managers gave little help or support to their efforts. Some at a senior level in the Police and children's social care continued to think the extent of the problem, as described by youth workers, was exaggerated, and seemed intent on reducing the official numbers of children categorised as CSE. At an operational level, staff appeared to be overwhelmed by the numbers involved. There were improvements in the response 1

8 of management from about 2007 onwards. By 2009, the children's social care service was acutely understaffed and over stretched, struggling to cope with demand. Seminars for elected members and senior officers in presented the abuse in the most explicit terms. After these events, nobody could say 'we didn't know'. In 2005, the present Council Leader chaired a group to take forward the issues, but there is no record of its meetings or conclusions, apart from one minute. By far the majority of perpetrators were described as 'Asian' by victims, yet throughout the entire period, councillors did not engage directly with the Pakistani-heritage community to discuss how best they could jointly address the issue. Some councillors seemed to think it was a one-off problem, which they hoped would go away. Several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist; others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so. In December 2009, the Minister of State for Children and Families put the Council's children s safeguarding services into intervention, following an extremely critical Ofsted report. The Council was removed from intervention thirteen months later. The Rotherham Safeguarding Children Board and its predecessor oversaw the development of good inter-agency policies and procedures applicable to CSE. The weakness in their approach was that members of the Safeguarding Board rarely checked whether these were being implemented or whether they were working. The challenge and scrutiny function of the Safeguarding Board and of the Council itself was lacking over several years at a time when it was most required. In 2013, the Council Leader, who has held office since 2003, apologised for the quality of the Council's safeguarding services being less than it should have been before This apology should have been made years earlier, and the issue given the political leadership it needed. There have been many improvements in the last four years by both the Council and the Police. The Police are now well resourced for CSE and well trained, though prosecutions remain low in number. There is a central team in children's social care which works jointly with the Police and deals with child sexual exploitation. This works well but the team struggles to keep pace with the demands of its workload. The Council is facing particular challenges in dealing with increased financial pressures, which inevitably impact on frontline services. The Safeguarding Board has improved its response to child sexual exploitation and holds agencies to account with better systems for file audits and performance reporting. There are still matters for children s social care to address such as good risk assessment, which is absent from too many cases, and there is not enough long-term support for the child victims. 2

9 1. Background 1.1 The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is situated in South Yorkshire, about eight miles from Sheffield. The Borough includes Rotherham itself and the outlying towns of Maltby, Rawmarsh, Swinton and Wath on Dearne. More than half of its area is rural. Its population is 258,400. Around 8% of residents are from black and minority ethnic groups. 23% of properties are council rented. Most of the traditional industries from the 19 th and 20 th centuries have vanished. After a period of decline in the 1980s and 90s, the local economy has grown steadily and the Borough has benefited from inward investment in the fields of technology and light engineering. Nevertheless, there is a wide range of deprivation in the Borough and stark inequalities between some of the areas within it. Unemployment is well above the UK average. The take-up of all welfare benefits is higher than the English average, as are the levels of free school meals and limiting long-term illness. 1.2 The Council comprises 63 elected members, of whom there are 49 Labour, 2 Conservatives, 10 UKIP and 2 Independents. Prior to the local elections in May 2014, there were 57 Labour, 4 Conservatives, 1 UKIP and 1 Independent. 1.3 The earliest reference to sexual exploitation of children reported to the Inquiry was about children in a children's residential unit in the early nineties. 1.4 Until 2004, responsibility for overseeing and coordinating a multi-agency response to child sexual abuse and exploitation lay with the Area Child Protection Committee. In early 2005, this responsibility passed to the Local Safeguarding Children Board (the Safeguarding Board), which was established by the Children Act Its task is to co-ordinate the actions of agencies represented on the Board and to ensure their effectiveness in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in its area. 1.5 In Rotherham, the first Council service to develop a special concern for child sexual exploitation (CSE) was the Risky Business youth project. Founded in 1997, it worked with young people between 11 and 25 years, providing sexual health advice, and help in relation to alcohol and drugs, self-harm, eating disorders, parenting and budgeting. By the late 90s, it was beginning to identify vulnerable girls on the streets of the town. Its relationship with any young person was voluntary on both sides. It was part of the Council's Youth Services, though it derived its funding from various sources in its early years. One of its main functions was the provision of training to voluntary and statutory agencies working in the field, to magistrates, the Police, schools and foster carers. 1.6 Within children's social care 1, the sexual exploitation of young people was first recognised as a Executive Director in 2001, though there were many known cases of CSE in the years before then. Risky Business would refer to children's social care 1 The term children s social care is used throughout the report to refer to the social services provided to children and young people. These had various departmental titles over the years, and are now named Children and Young People s Services. 3

10 any young person who gave rise to serious concerns and might require statutory intervention. Between 2001 and 2002, Risky Business participated in a Home Office research pilot whose aim was to find out the most effective approaches to street prostitution. Local agencies challenged the content of the draft report produced in 2002 and questioned its evidence base. While it commended Rotherham s training and fostering programmes, the draft research report contained significant criticisms of the Police and the local authority. 1.7 Social work with the victims of sexual abuse and exploitation had been undertaken largely through the Child Protection Unit and Senior Practitioners. Specialisation became more developed in the early 2000s with the establishment of the Safeguarding Children Unit and the Key Players group. Cases of sexual abuse were managed by qualified social workers under the supervision of their team leaders or locality managers. Strategy meetings were independently chaired by the Safeguarding Children Unit. 1.8 The organisational structure of the Council changed in 2005, with the separation of adult social services from children and families' social services. The new Department of Children and Young People s Services was created. 1.9 In 2003, the Area Child Protection Committee received reports about runaway children and the work of Risky Business. A presentation on sexual exploitation was made to a special seminar for councillors in November This presentation was explicit about known perpetrators, their ethnic origins, and where they operated. Similar presentations were made to other groups, including the Safeguarding Board, over the following weeks. As a result, the Leader of the Council set up a 'Task and Finish Group' to consider safe travel, safe houses, witness protection, training and publicity to raise public awareness of the issue. Senior councillors attended a conference on child sexual exploitation held in Rotherham in April A training session for councillors was arranged in June 2007 and a further conference in Around late 2003, the Sexual Exploitation Forum was set up. It was multi-agency and met monthly to consider individual cases of children who were being sexually exploited or at risk of exploitation Between , the Police undertook a series of operations, jointly coordinated and designed to investigate cases of suspected child sexual exploitation, although only one resulted in prosecution and convictions. Operation Central in 2008 investigated groups of men believed to be involved in child sexual exploitation. It ended in 2010 with five convictions. In the same year, Child S was murdered. Operation Czar, begun in 2009, led to the issuing of abduction notices, but no convictions. Operation Chard in 2011 led to abduction notices and 11 arrests but no convictions. In the summer of 2012, Operations K-Alphabet and Kappa began, again joint investigations with children's services. Later that year, Operation Carrington investigated the risks to young people in central Rotherham. In 2013, a police 4

11 operation into historic CSE in Rotherham was announced In October 2012, the Chief Constable gave evidence on child sexual exploitation to the Home Affairs Select Committee. In January 2013, the Chief Executive and Executive Director for Young People's Services gave evidence. The Select Committee's report was published in June, and was critical of the Council and the Police in Rotherham, particularly for the lack of prosecutions over a number of years In August 2013, the Police and Crime Commissioner announced three reviews of child sexual abuse in the South Yorkshire Police area. In September, the Council announced it would commission this Independent Inquiry A series of audits, reviews, assessments and inspections of the Council s safeguarding and child protection services were conducted over this period. The Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) and later Ofsted conducted regular inspections, planned or unannounced, notably a full inspection in 2003, a follow-up in 2004, a full inspection in 2008, a monitoring visit in 2009, an unannounced inspection in August 2009, a full inspection in 2010, an unannounced inspection in 2011, and an unannounced review of child protection services in August Following the inspection in 2009, the Minister of State for Young People and Families issued to the Council a Notice of Requirement to Improve its children s services. The Notice was removed in January Apart from Ofsted, children s safeguarding services were regularly subject to scrutiny in the form of Joint Area Reviews (JAR), Annual Performance Assessments, periodic thematic audits, and studies by the Council s Scrutiny and Services Improvement Panels. Serious Case Reviews were undertaken as required. The Serious Case Review on Child S, whilst judged 'excellent' by Ofsted, was criticised by Michael Gove, former Secretary of State for Education, and by The Times newspaper for the number of redactions the public version contained In 2013 the Leader of the Council formally apologised to the victims of CSE for the response of the Council's safeguarding services for children and young people, up until In addition to the unpublished 2002 Home Office research report, other significant reports relating to the exploitation and abuse of children in Rotherham included two reports by Dr Angie Heal in 2003 and 2006, an external assessment of children s services by Children First (2009), Barnardo s Practice Review (2013), and a diagnostic review by the Chair of the Safeguarding Board (2013) From 2003 to the present, articles have appeared in the Times Newspaper critical of the response to child sexual exploitation on the part of South Yorkshire Police and the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. 5

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13 2. Chronology of key events A summary of important events in the history of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham Risky Business project launched December 1998 Draft guidance from the Home Office covering Children involved in prostitution January 1999 Communication from South Yorkshire Police giving the policy and procedures for the protection of children who are being sexually abused through prostitution. February and March 1999 The Social Services (Children and Families) Committee received a report on the Home Office draft guidance. The sub-committee of the Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC) received the draft guidance and the police guidance to officers re child sexual exploitation The Council funded Risky Business. Funding was maintained and then increased in June 2002 Meetings took place between the Police, the Chief Executive of Rotherham Borough Council and senior staff of Education and Social Services on the subject of the Home Office research report. December 2002 The ACPC s sub-committee considered a report on runaway children and the protection of children experiencing, or at risk of sexual exploitation. 7

14 2003 August 2003 Dr Heal, Strategic Drugs Analyst, produced her first report Sexual Exploitation, Drug Use and Drug Dealing: the current situation in South Yorkshire. The report was circulated to all agencies in the Rotherham Drugs Partnership. September 2003 The ACPC approved revised procedures and protocols relating to the sexual exploitation of children. The Sexual Exploitation Forum began its work towards the end of November 2004 and early 2005 Presentations on the sexual exploitation of children were made to the Council s Children s Executive Group, the Children and Young People s Board and the Safeguarding Board. It was decided that a Task and Finish Group be set up on this subject, chaired by the Leader of the Council. An Action Plan was called for The Task and Finish Group decided to arrange a seminar for all Council members, a Partners Away Day, and major publicity to raise the awareness of the risks of sexual exploitation amongst parents, young people and the community. A group would consider child safety, witness protection, safe travel and issues around licensing and taxis. April 2005 A seminar for all Council members was organised on the subject of child sexual exploitation. 30 elected members attended. CSE would be a principal theme in the 3-year Community Safety Strategy. The new department of Children and Young People s Services was created, incorporating previous education functions and children and families social services. Councillor Shaun Wright was appointed Cabinet Member for Children and Young People s Services. May 2005 An audit of 87 CSE cases was carried out by the Police on behalf of the Sexual Exploitation Forum. 8

15 June 2005 The Forum was dealing with over 90 CSE cases and the decision was taken to reduce the number of cases being discussed. November 2005 The Chair of the Children and Young People s Voluntary Sector wrote to the Chief Executive, asking how the Task and Finish Group had progressed and offering to contribute to its work. The reply has not been traced A conference on the sexual exploitation of children was held in Rotherham in March Dr Heal, Strategic Drugs Analyst, produced her second report Violence and Gun Crime: Exploitation, Prostitution and Drug Markets in South Yorkshire. The report was circulated to all agencies in the Rotherham Drugs Partnership. The funding for Risky Business was increased. The Safeguarding Board approved revised procedures and an Action Plan for responding to the sexual exploitation of children and young people in Rotherham. August 2006 The Children and Young People s Scrutiny Panel called for an updated report on safeguarding around sexual exploitation. Three month secondment from National Children s Homes. The secondee began to review referral, assessment, planning etc. relating to the Action Plan. She worked with Risky Business and senior managers of Children and Young People s Services January 2007 The Council appointed an Assistant Safeguarding Manager with responsibility for CSE services. The Director, Targeted Services, took on the management of Risky Business. April 2007 A Strategic Management Team was established to co-ordinate police and social care input to an investigation of grooming and sexual abuse of young boys. Over 70 alleged victims were identified and an adult male was convicted of offences against 9

16 10 children. The judge commended the joint work that resulted in the prosecution and conviction of the offender. June 2007 Shaun Wright, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People s Services, received a report on the Protection of Young People from Sexual Assault in Rotherham. The report was referred to the Children and Young People s Scrutiny Panel and to the Safeguarding Board. It was decided that a training seminar would be held in July for Council members. December 2007 The Sexual Exploitation Forum heard that Risky Business was inundated with referrals, all of them under 18 years. Some were looked after children. The project was under pressure from those who had referred the children Operation Central was set up to investigate men believed to be involved in sexual exploitation. Inter-agency activity was coordinated through the Sexual Exploitation Forum, with input from the Police, Children and Young People s Services and Risky Business. Four young people were witnesses at the subsequent trial, with appropriate support. Five men were subsequently convicted. Funding for Risky Business was increased. June 2008 The Safeguarding Board received the annual report on the protection of young people in Rotherham from sexual exploitation. Membership of the Steering Group was expanded to include health and voluntary sector representatives. The main service in this field continued to be Risky Business. It would now promote multidisciplinary working, group work, a drop-in centre and weekend work. Work had started involving taxi drivers and licensed premises on the preventive agenda. July 2008 A new Executive Director of Children and Young People s Services was appointed. Shaun Wright, Cabinet member, received the annual report on the protection of young people in Rotherham from sexual exploitation. He called for a further report on the budget of Risky Business and the likely future pressures on the project. He 10

17 received a further report on the protection of young people from sexual exploitation in November Statutory guidance on safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation was received. January 2009 Shaun Wright, Cabinet member, received a report by the Director of Targeted Services on the progress of arrangements to protect young people from sexual exploitation. May 2009 An external assessment of Children and Young People s Services, commissioned from Children First, was published. Autumn 2009 Ofsted rated Rotherham children s services inadequate on the grounds that the safety of children could not be assured. Three areas for priority action were noted. September 2009 The Local Safeguarding Children Board received a report on the resource implications of the growing demands on the service in relation to sexual exploitation. October 2009 A new Chief Executive was appointed. December 2009 The Minister of State served an Improvement Notice on Rotherham Council January 2010 Operation Czar began a joint Police and Children and Young People s Services investigation involving multiple perpetrators and victims. Abduction notices were made, taxi licences were revoked, but no convictions followed. February 2010 A Lessons Learned review of Operation Central was commissioned. 11

18 April 2010 The Safeguarding Board set up the formal Child Sexual Exploitation sub-group. May 2010 Councillor Paul Lakin became the Lead Member for Children and Young People s Services. September 2010 The post of specialist CSE Safeguarding Co-coordinator was created and located within the Children s Safeguarding Unit. November 2010 Operation Central trial ended with five convictions. Child S was murdered, and a Serious Case Review was commissioned by the Safeguarding Board. December 2010 The support of the Safeguarding Board was sought to the principle of establishing a multi-agency team to address issues of sexual exploitation. The Director of Community Services in Children and Young People s Services emphasised to the Board that the Risky Business service should be further enhanced January 2011 Operation Chard began, a joint investigation into multiple perpetrators and victims. Arrests and abduction notices were made, and taxi licences were revoked. One case was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, but the decision was taken not to proceed. Rotherham Children s Services were removed from Government intervention. April 2011 A large regional conference reviewed the lessons learned from Operation Central. The Risky Business project was transferred from Youth Services to Children s Safeguarding Services. December 2011 A man was convicted and sentenced to 17.5 years for the murder of Child S. The Safeguarding Board was assured by Council officers that Rotherham was ahead of other areas in its work on the sexual exploitation of young people. 12

19 2012 May 2012 The Serious Case Review on Child S was published. The Times newspaper alleged a cover-up on account of the redactions. July and August 2012 Operation K-Alphabet, a joint CSE investigation with Sheffield Police began, focusing on a perpetrator who lived in Rotherham. A second investigation, operation Kappa began. Several other police operations were underway to investigate and prosecute suspected perpetrators. August 2012 Ofsted rated Rotherham s child protection services as adequate commending significant improvements. September 2012 The Times reported an alleged cover-up from 1997 to The new specialist CSE service was co-located with the Rotherham Police Public Protection Unit with two qualified social workers. October 2012 The Chief Constable, South Yorkshire Police, attended the Home Affairs Select Committee. The Overview and Scrutiny Management Board reviewed lessons learned from the Child S Serious Case Review. November 2012 Operation Carrington began a joint investigation focusing on Eastern European children who were being sexually exploited/at risk January 2013 The Chief Executive and the Executive Director of Children and Young People s Services gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee. June 2013 The Executive Director of Children and Young People s services advised the Cabinet on the publication of the Home Affairs Select Committee report Child Sexual Exploitation and the response to Localised Grooming. The Cabinet was told that 13

20 between 2003 and 2009 we fully acknowledge that our services should have been stronger. September 2013 Barnardo s completed a Practice Review, which had been commissioned by Rotherham Borough Council as an initial high-level review of its CSE services. Councillor Roger Stone, Leader of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, announced that an Independent Inquiry into CSE in Rotherham would be held. He apologised unreservedly to young people who had been let down by the safeguarding services which prior to 2009 simply weren t good enough. Shaun Wright, the Police and Crime Commissioner, announced three reviews of CSE, including an HMIC inspection, an additional team of detectives and other specialists to investigate allegations of historic child abuse in South Yorkshire, and the Chief Crown Prosecutor to review all historic CSE cases across South Yorkshire in which the Crown Prosecution Service was involved. Criminal charges were to be considered. The incoming Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board initiated a CSE Diagnostic. November 2013 HMIC report on South Yorkshire Police s handling of CSE was published. December 2013 The Safeguarding Board Chair s Diagnostic Report was published. 14

21 3. Inspections and External reviews Inspections frequently commend the Council for its commitment to safeguarding young people, and its efforts to develop multi-agency responses to child sexual exploitation. However, reports contain serious criticisms, some of which are repeated over the 15-year period. Those that occur most frequently relate to the quality of referrals and assessments, the late provision of reports, the standard of records and reports, and weaknesses in performance management. These included lack of monitoring, inadequate supervision and the absence of sound information systems. The Council was served with an Improvement Notice by the Minister of State for Young People and Families in December 2009, which was lifted in January In subsequent inspections and reviews, its multi-agency approach to CSE and the specialist team were praised. 3.1 In the first part of this chapter, we summarise the findings of inspections by Ofsted, the Social Services Inspectorate and the Commission for Social Care Inspection. For ease of reference, the findings of reports are described (where possible) under standard headings. We then look at other external reviews which were undertaken between 2009 and The Social Services Inspectorate s report (2003) refers back to the joint review of social services in Rotherham held in The review commended the Council on its realistic strategic plans, its partnership with health, its good relations with users and carers, and its culture of continuous improvement. It called for action in the following areas: a) Quality of response: The standard of assessment and decision-making must be improved Information about the supply and demand for services should be carefully analysed Agreement should be reached on specific thresholds to achieve the best outcomes for children; and b) Recording - Standards of recording should be made more consistent The Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) conducted an inspection of children s services in February It found a situation of extremes. It welcomed examples of innovation, moves towards integrated services and new preventive strategies. The Area Child Protection Committee s procedures were up to date. However, core services were under pressure and this was not fully appreciated by the Council. There were serious lapses in initial response, child protection and looked after children systems. Some services were in short supply, compounded by staff vacancy levels. 15

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